What Is Poverty - Essay Example

09 April 2008 What is Poverty? As people go about their busy lifestyles and catch up with the world around them, they have less or even no time to think about the other world which is often dominated by the blacks. The firsthand account of poverty by Jo Goodwin Parker opens the eyes and lets one explore a new world he has not been able to understand. For a typical person, this essay about poverty will come as a shock considering that the American nation enjoys economic hegemony. Who would ever thought that while most citizens live comfortably in their huge, warm, and cozy homes, others struggle to cope with a life and struggle to survive without basic necessities?

But look at it this way, if America which is considered as one of the wealthiest nations in the world has this problem, how much more in other developing economies? The article might seem like an exaggeration of what poverty is. Yet at the eyes of Africans and Asians, this is just a minute detail of the life they are living. The article defines poverty as being dirty, tired, cold during winter and having insects all over you in summer, asking for other’s people help, remembering how you are treated rudely, and having no access to what the rich call basic necessities.

In a way, this definition of poverty encapsulates how it is to be poor in comparison to the rich people around you. The article has been right to point out that poverty devoids people of a chance of being clean since there is no money to buy soap and sometimes even water. Poverty also makes one susceptible to the cold in winter and the insects in the summer. Because of our culture of measuring and accepting an individual based on his social status, the poor also struggles with the lack of social circles and being constrained in their immediate environment.

Lastly, it means having to be sick, uneducated and remain poor the rest of your life. It also is giving up your relationships because it burdens you more. This account of poverty from a person in the US is nothing compared to what is experienced in third world countries. In these nations, poverty goes beyond not having a decent home and decent clothing—poverty means having no roof to shield you from the sun and rain and no clothes to cover your body. It also means living in dumpsites and collecting garbage with the hope of finding thrown away food.

It is asking for help and desperately stealing to fill your stomach. Yet, in third world countries, poverty and good relationship is much more honored than riches without the people you love. At most instances, poverty brings people closer together and considered as a test to their relationship. It is not a discouragement but a motivation to do better.